Every content writer would agree with this statement: coming up with content one after another is a back-breaking task.
The ideas should be endless so that the content calendar stays full. And the energy to execute them? That’s another battle.
But here’s a secret… your email inbox might just be the goldmine you’ve been overlooking.
Those painstakingly crafted email newsletters, promotions, and updates can do more than just sit in subscribers’ inboxes.
Why reinvent the wheel when you can polish it and roll it out again on your social media feed?
Repurposing email content for social media success is more than just smart. It’s a time-saving, engagement-boosting strategy that can breathe new life into your marketing efforts.
Now, let’s find out how to do it properly.
Identifying Repurposable Email Content
But first, remember that not all emails can be repurposed into social media content. The key is to identify the hidden gems within your inbox– the content that’s both relevant and engaging for your audience.
Not every message will translate well to a social media post, but those newsletters packed with valuable insights, promotions with eye-catching visuals, or customer testimonials with powerful stories are ripe for repurposing.
Find Newsletter Highlights
Your newsletters are often packed with valuable information that can easily be broken down into bite-sized social media content. Start by identifying the key highlights– whether it’s industry news, helpful tips, or product updates.
These can be turned into standalone posts, infographics, or carousel slides that give your social media followers a quick snapshot of the valuable insights they may have missed.
Repurpose Promotions and Offers
Promotional emails often contain compelling offers and eye-catching visuals that can be repurposed for social media.
Take advantage of these by turning them into visually appealing posts or stories that highlight the key aspects of your promotion– whether it’s a special discount, a limited-time offer, or a new product launch.
Source: Unlayer
This extends the reach of your promotions and keeps your audience excited and engaged. Create graphics or short videos that showcase the offer in a fresh, engaging way, and tailor the messaging to fit the tone and style of each social media platform.
Highlight Customer Testimonials and Success Stories
Customer testimonials and success stories from your emails are powerful social media content. Share quotes, create visual testimonials, or develop short video clips featuring real customer feedback.
These authentic, positive experiences can be transformed into impactful posts that build credibility and trust with your audience.
Source: Really Good Emails
Transform Blog Summaries into Insightful Social Media Content
If your emails include summaries or highlights from your blog posts, these are goldmines for social media content.
Take the main points or key takeaways from your blog summaries with AI summarizers and craft engaging posts that pique curiosity. You can use attention-grabbing headlines, compelling visuals, or teaser videos to drive traffic to the full article.
Create Visual Content from Data and Reports
Emails often contain valuable data and insights, such as quarterly reports, survey results, or performance metrics. These figures can be transformed into eye-catching visual content for social media.
Source: SendGrid
Design infographics, charts, or data snippets that highlight the most interesting or impactful statistics. This will make complex information more accessible and turn dry data into shareable visuals.
Adapting Email Content for Different Social Media Platforms
Now that we understand what types of emails are repurposable for social media, it’s time to explore how to adapt that content for different platforms.
Each social media channel has its own unique style and audience expectations, so what works on one platform might not translate seamlessly to another.
To maximize the impact of your repurposed content, you’ll need to tailor your approach to fit the format and tone of each platform.
Facebook: Engage with Rich Posts and Stories
At least 24.2% of Facebook users in the United States were aged between 25 and 34 years, making up Facebook’s largest audience in the country.
It’s ideal for targeting Millennials with longer-form content and detailed posts. Take highlights from your newsletters or promotions and expand them into engaging Facebook posts.
Use a combination of text and visuals to create rich, informative updates that encourage interaction. Incorporate calls-to-action (CTAs) to drive engagement, such as asking questions or inviting users to share their thoughts.
Instagram: Focus on Visual Appeal
Instagram is all about stunning visuals and concise, engaging captions. Its primary users are young adults, with a significant portion of its user base falling within the 18-34 age group. Specifically, 30.8% of users are aged 18-24, and 30.3% are aged 25-34
So, you need to turn your email content into eye-catching graphics or short videos that align with Instagram’s visual-centric nature and cater to tech-savvy audiences. Use high-quality images, create infographics, or design carousel posts to break down information into digestible slides.
Craft captions that are succinct yet informative and utilize Instagram’s features like Stories and Reels to provide a more interactive experience. Remember to use relevant hashtags to increase your content’s reach and discoverability.
X (Twitter): Be Brief and Impactful
Twitter’s character limit requires a more succinct approach. Condense your email content into short, punchy tweets that get straight to the point. Highlight key takeaways, quotes, or stats from your emails and pair them with compelling visuals or links to full articles.
Use Twitter threads to expand on complex topics and engage in conversations with your audience. Keep your tone lively and conversational to foster engagement and encourage retweets and replies.
TikTok: Capture Attention with Short, Dynamic Videos
TikTok thrives on short, engaging videos that capture attention quickly. When adapting email content for TikTok, focus on creating brief, visually captivating clips that highlight the most exciting or valuable aspects of your email.
Start with a strong hook to grab viewers’ attention within the first few seconds, and use creative editing techniques, music, and effects to make your content stand out.
Transform email promotions, tips, or updates into bite-sized, entertaining videos that resonate with TikTok’s audience. Use trends, challenges, or popular sounds to enhance your content’s appeal and reach.
For example, you could create a quick “how-to” video based on a helpful tip from your email or showcase a behind-the-scenes look at your latest promotion.
LinkedIn: Professional and Informative
LinkedIn is the go-to platform for professional and educational content. Repurpose your email content to align with LinkedIn’s business-focused audience by emphasizing industry insights, professional tips, and company updates.
Create posts that reflect your expertise, and consider sharing detailed articles or case studies from your email newsletters.
There’s the article feature to publish longer-form content that provides in-depth analysis or thought leadership and engages with your network. You can use it to encourage discussions and share valuable resources.
Best Practices for Repurposing Email Content for Social Media Posts
While transforming content across platforms can save time and boost visibility, it’s not just about copying and pasting. You need to consider how to adapt it thoughtfully and strategically. Here are some best practices:
#1. Tailor the Tone and Style for Each Platform
We’ve mentioned it before: different social media platforms have distinct tones and styles that cater to their specific audiences. So, when repurposing email content, it’s essential to adapt the tone and style to fit each platform’s norms.
For instance, LinkedIn content should be professional and informative, while Instagram posts can be more casual and visually driven. Meanwhile, on X or Twitter, employ a more casual and conversational tone, and make use of Twitter’s features such as threads, polls, and hashtags.
Adjust your language, imagery, and overall presentation to align with the expectations and preferences of each platform’s audience.
#2. Maintain Consistency in Messaging
While adapting content for different platforms, it’s crucial to maintain consistency in your core messaging. Make sure that the key points and overall message from your email content are preserved, even as you modify the presentation for each social media channel.
Consistent messaging helps reinforce your brand’s voice and ensures that your audience receives a coherent and unified experience, regardless of where they encounter your content. This consistency builds trust and strengthens your brand identity across all platforms.
#3. Use Platform-Specific Features and Formats
Each social media platform has its own set of features and content formats that can boost engagement. Take advantage of these platform-specific tools to maximize the impact of your repurposed email content.
Use Instagram Stories and Reels for quick, eye-catching snippets. There’s no better way to showcase multiple aspects of your content than by using carousel posts on Facebook, Instagram, and X. And if you want to engage followers, use polls.
#4. Craft an Eye-catching Visuals
Email content can be a little bit bland for social media without colors, graphics, and compelling visuals. Remember that high-quality visual elements can help highlight key points, make your posts more appealing, and increase the likelihood of shares and interactions.
Tailor your visuals to match each platform’s format– use images for Instagram, concise graphics for Twitter, and detailed infographics for LinkedIn.
“But what if I don’t have any design skills?” There are tons of straightforward graphic design tools you can use to craft social media posts, like Canva, Adobe Spark, and Crello.
It’s worth mentioning that visuals go beyond just images. You can take those infographics from your last survey campaign and turn them into an animated explainer video. These quick, snackable visuals are perfect for short-form content like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.
#5. Optimize for Mobile Viewing
Almost 70% of the population is using mobile devices. And 88.4% of 5.6 billion mobile phone users are on social media.
Source: We Are Social
With this staggering number, it’s clear that optimizing your repurposed email content for mobile viewing is a must. Make sure that your visuals are clear and legible on smaller screens, and format your text to be easily readable without excessive scrolling or zooming.
Use concise and impactful copy, and test how your content appears on different devices to guarantee a smooth and engaging experience for all users.
#6. Include Clear Calls-to-Action
Always include a clear and compelling call-to-action (CTA). Whether you want your audience to visit a website, sign up for a newsletter, or take advantage of a special offer, make sure your CTA is prominent and actionable.
Use direct language and design elements that draw attention to the CTA, and ensure it aligns with the goals of your social media strategy.
A well-crafted CTA helps guide your audience toward the desired action and maximizes the effectiveness of your repurposed content.
Source: Social Media College
#7. Cross-Promote Across Channels
Use your social media posts to cross-promote and drive traffic back to your email content. If your email contains valuable resources like downloadable guides, special promotions, or event invitations, use social media to draw attention to these features. For instance, you can share how DPS power offers Modern Generator Solutions For Optimal Performance in case of power outages, and provide tips or a teaser about the benefits of their generators.
Create posts that emphasize the benefits of these resources and provide a direct link for followers to access them through your email.
For instance, if you share a summary or teaser from a newsletter, include a link for followers to read the full email or subscribe to future updates.
#8. Repurpose Evergreen Content
Evergreen content, where the information remains relevant over time, is perfect for repurposing across social media. Identify the timeless elements in your emails, such as fundamental tips, classic product updates, or general industry insights, and refresh these for social media.
This type of content can be shared multiple times without losing its value, allowing you to maintain a steady stream of engaging posts.
Repackage evergreen email content into various formats like infographics, short videos, or inspirational quotes, and schedule regular updates to keep your social media channels active and engaging.
Here’s an example of a design template that you can use to break down infographics into social media posts.
Source: Freepik
#9. Don’t Forget Seasonal and Trending Topics
Align your repurposed email content with seasonal themes and current trends to increase its relevance and appeal. For example, if your email features tips on productivity, you could adapt it for a New Year’s resolution theme or back-to-school period.
#10. Monitor Engagement and Adjust Accordingly
Once your repurposed content is live, keep an eye on how it performs across different platforms.
Monitor metrics such as likes, shares, comments, and click-through rates to gauge engagement and effectiveness. Use this data to understand what resonates with your audience and what doesn’t.
Be prepared to adjust your approach based on feedback and performance insights, refining your content strategy to better meet your audience’s preferences and improve overall results.
Wrapping Up on Repurposing Email Content for Social Media
You don’t have to endlessly produce content day by day. Those emails that have been forgotten in your Sent file for quite a while can be transformed into fresh, engaging social media posts.
By repurposing your existing email content, you can breathe new life into valuable information, save time, and maintain a consistent presence across your social media channels. With a bit of creativity and strategic adaptation, your old emails can become a rich source of content that continues to connect with your audience.